DAT chicken is an excellent game but a dangerous one - every time it fires off, it's not simply a case of fading it out. Broadcasting House has to pass back control to the studio and this process isn't very simple... the people in control wouldn't find it too funny!
The Emergency DAT is updated every few months, and the current one with Outkast followed by Sugababes has had plenty of airings. People aren't supposed to recognise when the DAT fires off because it should be so rare - obviously not the case with this particular incarnation!
And when I'm listening to Radio 1 and hear Outkast with that particular sweeper attached to it, it always makes me wonder if it is the DAT kicking in...
I remember Chris Evans one morning when he was on Radio 1 deliberately went silent for a while to get the emergency tape on air. IIRC he had great trouble getting rid of it and going back to live programming.
Also, when Nicky Campbell left Radio One, he secretly re-recorded the emergency tape with a compilation of the 'best bits' of his show for a laugh. It went out during a fire-alarm about six months later.
I wouldn't be suprised to find out that the radio 1 fire alarm is set off by the immense heat of the steaming sh*t that the radio station is outputting these days. It is a good thing when the DAT kicks in though, as it's a rare chance to hear music on radio 1.
I wouldn't be suprised to find out that the radio 1 fire alarm is set off by the immense heat of the steaming sh*t that the radio station is outputting these days. It is a good thing when the DAT kicks in though, as it's a rare chance to hear music on radio 1.
DAT chicken is an excellent game but a dangerous one - every time it fires off, it's not simply a case of fading it out. Broadcasting House has to pass back control to the studio and this process isn't very simple... the people in control wouldn't find it too funny!
So at what stage in the broadcast chain is the emergency DAT (actually I always though they were minidiscs rather than DAT, I forget what the advantages (if any) of using DAT over minidisc are..).
Or is there more than one, ie. one at BH to detect an absence of feed from whichever studio has control, and then one at each transmitter to detect silence there or a fault with the line?
I concur with Asa's thoughts about the show by the way (speaking as someone who now listens to either R1,R2 or Five Live each morning, or a mixture thanks to 'listen again'..)
The machines are in a secure area of Broadcasting House. They feed into the broadcast chain after the normal switcher which allocates network distributions to studios.
Here's a quick clip I recorded while it was happening. Missed when it actually started but Chris Moyles shouted after the bell started .... IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP LISTENERS GET UP GET UP GET UP... or something to that effect with everyone laughing in the background.
Then it's that time of the show again where Dave says ..... Let's get ready to........
Here's a quick clip I recorded while it was happening. Missed when it actually started but Chris Moyles shouted after the bell started .... IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP LISTENERS GET UP GET UP GET UP... or something to that effect with everyone laughing in the background.
Then it's that time of the show again where Dave says ..... Let's get ready to........